BE CAREFUL TO OBSERVE ALL THAT I ENJOIN UPON YOU;

NEITHER ADD TO IT NOR TAKE AWAY FROM IT.

(Devarim 13:1)

Neither add to it – [i.e.,] five [rather than four] sections

in tefillin, five [rather than four] types of

plant in a lulav, four [rather than three] priestly

blessings.

(Rashi Devarim 13:1)

All [that I enjoin upon you] – This connects with that which

was written above it – not to serve God with gentile forms of worship, rather

be careful to perform only the commandments and the methods of worship that I

have commanded you, without additions or deletions.

(HaRYShaR Reggio,

ad loc)

Neither add

to it – additional

measures [beyond the sacrificial service] peculiar to the land [of Israel in

order to ensure prosperity in the land].

Inasmuch

as God, may He be exalted, knew that the commandments of this Law will need in

every time and place – as far as some of them are concerned – to be added to or

subtracted from according to the diversity of places, happenings, and

conjectures of circumstances, He forbade adding to them or subtracting from

them, saying: neither add to it nor take away from it. For this might have led to the corruption of the rules of the Law

and to the belief that the latter did not come from God. He permitted

the men of knowledge of every period, I refer to the Great Court of Law, to

take precautions with a view to consolidating the ordinances of the Law by

means of regulations in which they innovate with a view to repairing fissures,

and to perpetuate these precautionary measures according to what has been said

by [the Sages]: "Build a hedge for the Torah." Similarly they were

permitted in certain circumstances or with a view to certain events to abolish

certain actions prescribed by the Law or to permit some of the things forbidden

by it; but these measures may not be perpetuated, as we have explained it in

the Introduction to the Commentary on the Mishnah

in speaking of temporary decisions. Through this kind of governance the Law

remains one, and one is governed in every time and with a view to every happening

in accordance with that happening. If, however, every man of knowledge had been

permitted to engage in this speculation concerning particulars, the people

would have perished because of the multiplicity of the differences of opinion

and the subdivisions of doctrines. Consequently He, may He be exalted, has

forbidden all the men of knowledge with the single exception of the Great Court

of Law to undertake this…

(RaMBaM, Guide of the Perplexed

3:41, following the Pines translation)

So that you

shall remember: On the Shaping of Memory

Yehuda Pinchover

It

may be said without a doubt that the Egyptian servitude and the redemption from

it are among the Jewish People's foundational events and are inscribed deeply

in our consciousnesses. The story of enslavement is harsh. The Torah gives a succinct

and objective account of the oppression, suffering, and attempted annihilation

inflicted by the Egyptians upon our people. It offers no moral explanation of

these events. The Egyptians work us brutally, they

embitter our lives, hit us and goad us to work. Worst of all, they order the

midwives and the Egyptians to kill the newborn sons. The Israelites, sigh,

moan, and cry out to God from Egypt's iron furnace. And the Holy One blessed be He hears them and redeems His people.

The

story is mentioned often by Scripture, and the Torah memorializes it through

various commandments. We are commanded to remember it always, as is said by our

parasha in explanation of the Sukkot

holiday: In order that you remember the day that you left Egypt all the days

of your life (Devarim 16:3).

The

Torah's revealed reason for eating matzah is

also connected with the Exodus from Egypt: You shall observe the [Feast of]

the Matzot, for on this very day I brought your ranks

out of the land of Egypt (Shemot 12:17). That reason is explained in

greater detail in a latter verse: And they baked matzah

prepared any provisions for themselves (Shemot

12:39).

In

their book Lo Kakh Katuv

BaTorah (That is Not How It is Written in the

Torah), professors Ya'ir Zakovitz

and Avigdor Shenan wonder

why the Torah decided to emphasize the story of salvation as the reason for

eating matzah. After all, the Torah conceals

an additional reason, found in our parasha: For

seven days upon it you shall eat matzot, bread

of distress

the day of your departure from the land of Egypt all the days of your life (Devarim 16:3).

That is to say, the Torah tells us that the matzah

is the bread of distress that our ancestors ate in Egypt; it would seem

that it comes to remind us of the enslavement and suffering we endured there,

as we recite in the Haggadah: "This is the bread

of distress that our fathers ate in the land of Egypt." Even in the verse

just quoted, the expression bread of distress is hidden, while the Exodus

– the redemption – is emphasized. One receives the impression that when we eat

the matzah, the Torah deliberately tries to

leave the taste of miracles and redemption in our mouths, rather than the taste

of suffering and enslavement.

Similarly,

we read in Meshekh Hokhmah:

"That is why it is not recalled in connection to Pesah,

the Feast of Matzot, that during it God inflicted

severe punishments [upon the Egyptians], rather it is only [mentioned] that God

took the Children of Israel out of Egypt."

One

might ask why the Torah decided to follow this policy. The author

of Meshekh Hokhmah

– as well as Zakowitz and Shenan

– give answers to this question, but I would like to suggest a different

solution. Clearly, by requiring of us to remember the story of Egypt, the Torah

is setting out its opinion regarding the content of the memory; what should be

remembered and how. The form given to the memory of this important event is

supposed to influence our identity, our world view, and our modes of action.

I

believe that we must differentiate between the memory of servitude and the

memory of the Exodus – the story of escape from servitude. The memory of the

Exodus appears in many places, but I would like to concentrate upon the memory

of the servitude. The question is if and why the Torah wants us to recall the

suffering we endured without our knowing its explanation. The memory of suffering

and enslavement bears a danger within it. The memory could encourage hatred,

awaken demands for revenge, or at least bring ostracization

and seclusion in its wake. On the other hand, just as it is inadvisable for a

person to repress traumas that he suffered in his life, it is not healthy for a

nation to suppress difficult events of its history.

I

believe that in order to focus on how the Torah has shaped this traumatic

memory, we must proceed through a process of elimination, checking how and in

what context the Torah asks us to remember the servitude by itself, without

mentioning the later redemption from it. Every place where the servitude is

mentioned together with the story of redemption emphasizes God's greatness and

power, and the kindness He did His people by saving them. Such contexts

principally bring to our attention the story of the miracles and wonders

performed for our ancestors in Egypt – positive, rather than bitter memories. In

addition, when memory of the suffering appears together with that of our

salvation, its traumatic aspect is weakened and pacified. Consider, for

example, the first verse of the Ten Commandments: I am the Lord your God Who took you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage

(Shemot 20:2).

The house of bondage is indeed mentioned, but the emphasis is placed upon

our being saved from it.

In

addition, we should differentiate between active and passive memories. Let us

check how and when we are required to recall the experience of poverty,

slavery, and suffering in Egypt without taking any corresponding action. Contrastingly,

we can observe when and how we are required to act upon the memory of the

suffering inflicted upon us in Egypt.

The

Torah contains no commandment (of the kind we find regarding Amalek) to remember the Egyptians' wickedness and injustice,. There is also no rejoicing over the enemy's downfall (as

the Meshekh Hokhmah

points out), and there is no promise or hope for further punishment and vengeance

against the Egyptians. On the other hand, at the end of the passage of rebuke,

we find in the Torah the demand that we inculcate the traumas we underwent in

Egypt into our consciousness in a passive form:

The

Lord will send you back to Egypt in galleys, by a route which I told you you should not see again. There you shall offer yourselves

for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but none will buy. (Devarim 28:68)

The

Torah commands us to remember and internalize that the danger always

exists that we

will return to a state of servitude, and that there is no guarantee of eternal,

unconditional, redemption.

On

the other hand, we are required to act from the remembrance of the enslavement

just so long as we are engaged in those commandments that are dedicated to

concern for the weaker elements of society. Here the memory comes to validate

such demands, as in the commandment of rejoicing that appears in our parasha:

You

shall rejoice before the Lord your God with your son and daughter, your male

slave and female slave, the Levite in your communities, and the stranger, the

fatherless, and the widow in your midst, at the place where the Lord your God

will choose to establish His name. Bear in mind that you were slaves in Egypt,

and take care to obey these laws. (Devarim

16:11-12)

The

commandment to love the stranger and the full equality of rights granted him are

also founded upon the memory of the Egyptian servitude and of our existence in

a foreign land:

When

a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not wrong him. The stranger

who resides with you shall be to you as one of you citizens; you shall love him

as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I the Lord am your

God. (Vayikra 19:33-4)

Our

harsh memories allow us to understand that servitude is painful, wicked, and

immoral. This consciousness obligates us to identify with the stranger's distress

and to do everything possible to make the stranger feel like our brother.

The

Jewish People has been through many traumas, but it seems that the lesson which

Israeli society chooses to learn from its hard past is often partial, particularistic,

and incompatible with the way of Torah. Instead of taking it upon ourselves to

care for all those who are weak and who suffer, wherever they may be, the

common Israeli viewpoint often focuses on seeing ourselves as a victim, a

persecuted community. As a result, we hold to the opinion that "we must be

strong," that "we can only depend upon our strength" and we

promise that "Massada will not fall again."

The Torah's way of relating to national traumas is expressed in the verse, and

these laws.

Yehudah Pinchover is one of Netivot Shalom's founders.

The higher man does not rejoice

at his enemy's downfall, since that joy is evil in the eyes of God, and that

which is evil in God's eyes should be hated. That is why it is not recalled in

connection to Pesah, the Feast of Matzot,

that during it God inflicted severe punishments [upon the Egyptians], rather it

is only [mentioned] that God took the Children of Israel out of Egypt. However,

there is no holiday for Israel that celebrates the downfall of enemies.

(Meshekh Hokhmah on Shemot 12:15)

The throne of Israel is

established and the religion of truth is upheld only through charity [tzedakah], as it is said, In

righteousness [tzedakah] you shall be established

(Isaiah

54:14). Israel is

redeemed only through charity, as it is written, Zion shall be redeemed with

judgment and they that return with righteousness [tzedakah]

(ibid.

1:27).

(RaMBaM Matanot

Aniyyim 10:1, Yale translation)

There

shall be no needy among you – For

there will never cease to be needy ones in the land: A Promise? A Demand?

Regarding

the annulment of loans, it is said: There shall be no needy among you – since

the Lord your God will bless you in the land. Yet regarding charity – the

commandment of Do not shut your hand… Rather,

you must open your hand – it is said: For there will never cease to be

needy ones in the land.

The

contradiction between the two verses is only imaginary. There shall be no

needy among you should not be understood as a promise, but rather as a

demand addressed to humans. It is incumbent upon us to prevent the existence of

needy people among us by observing the commandments of the annulment of loans

and all the other laws of social significance. Without these arrangements,

which we are required to follow, the other verse will be realized: For there

will never cease to be needy ones in the land. The impoverished do not

disappear by themselves, that is to say: A regime containing poverty does not

disappear by itself, and its removal cannot be set upon the shoulders of He who

opens His hand and satiates the needs of all the living. Rather, God

demands of us to see to it that there should be no needy people in the land.

(Prof. Yeshayahu Leibowitz z"l, He'arot le'Parshiyot Ha'Shavu'a)

They

even offer up their sons and daughters in fire to their gods (Devarim 12:31)

Be careful to observe all that I

enjoin upon you; neither add to it nor take away from it.

(Devarim 13:1)

The Holy One, Blessed Be He, Wants Life,

and Is Not Interested In Human Sacrifice

"Neither add to it" – because

you are liable to add something which He abominates. Such would be the case

were you to desire to add forms of worship of the Blessed God, for sometimes

the additional forms of worship may be abominable to him, like the burning of

the sons.

(S'forno, Devarim ibid., ibid.)

It is written Neither

add to it nor take away from it. Immediately preceding and adjacent to that

we read they even offer up their sons and daughters in fire to their gods. But

regarding commandments in general, the Holy One, Blessed Be He, did not warn

against adding laws in order to create barriers and restrictions for the

protection of the Torah.

(Hizkuni, Devarim 4:2)

It is not sufficient that you avoid

worshipping their gods in these ways; it will be a transgression if these forms

of worship be directed to the one God, your Lord. For the

significance of worship of their gods is the complete opposite of what is

desirable to your God, just as the way of your God is the total negation of

their gods. Your God is the God of Life; their gods are gods of death. Their

gods of nonsense take pleasure from destruction; the desire of your God is

self-elevation and renewal of life.

(Rabbi Shimshon

R. Hirsch, ibid., ibid.)

The Connection Between

"Expansion of Boundaries" and the Appetite for Meat

When

shall eat some meat" – teaches that man yearns [to satisfy] his appetite

only upon excess expansion, "The lion does not roar unless he has a vessel

full with meat" (Berachot

32). Therefore

He said: When the Lord enlarges your territory – this will lead to

the tearing away of the mask of shame from your face to the point where you

outspokenly declare "I shall eat some meat". This is somewhat

similar to the throwing off of the yoke of heaven and to investigate the place

of sacrifices. The reason for all this is the place where the Lord has

chosen to establish his name is too far from you – the closer one is

to God's sanctuary, the greater is one's fear of the Kingdom of Heaven, as is

written, And you shall be in awe of My sanctuary. This means that

the sanctuary will be the source of your awe of the Kingdom of Heaven. The

place… is too far from you distances God from your inner organs, and therefore

you will constantly have a voracious appetite, and you will not be ashamed to

say "I shall eat some meat", so I permit it to you, and you

may slaughter from your cattle… as I have instructed you – not at all times,

but only occasionally, when the appetite is overwhelming.

(Kli

Yakar, Devarim 12:21)

A Holy People

and a Treasured People: Fate, Destiny, or Challenge?

All families are presumed to be of valid descent, and it is

permitted to intermarry with them in the first instance. Nevertheless, should

you see two families continually striving with one another, or a family which

is constantly engaged in quarrels and altercations, or an individual who is

exceedingly contentious with everyone, or is excessively impudent, apprehension

should be felt concerning them, and it is advisable to keep one's distance from

them, for these traits are indicative of invalid descent. Similarly, if a man

always casts aspersions upon other people's descent – for instance, if he

alleges that certain families and individuals are of blemished descent and

refers to them as being bastards – suspicion is justified that he himself may

be a bastard. And if he says that they are slaves, one may suspect that he

himself is a slave, since whosoever blemishes others projects upon them his own

blemish. Similarly, if a person exhibits impudence, cruelty, or misanthropy,

and never performs an act of kindness, one should strongly suspect that he is

of Gibeonite descent, since the distinctive traits of

Israel, the holy nation, are modesty, mercy, and lovingkindness.

(RaMBaM Hilkhot Issurei Biya 19:17, Yale

translation)

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